USPS Gambles on Wrong Lady Liberty for Stamp

LAS VEGAS—A cheap knockoff appears to have fooled the United States Postal Service (USPS) in its attempt to honor the Statue of Liberty on a stamp. The image printed on the stamp, first issued last December, is not that of Lady Liberty in New York Harbor, but of the imposter twin that resides outside the New York-New York hotel here.

An observant stamp collector apparently noticed that the image was not the real McCoy. Linn’s Stamp News reported that the USPS had received the photo from Getty Images, which had licensed it as the Statue of Liberty. Despite the gaffe, the Postal Service has no intention of pulling the stamp out of circulation.

It’s been a tough week for stamp production. The Pacific nation of Niue received plenty of flak for releasing stamps of Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton that have a vertical perforation that separates the pair into individual stamps.